How to Develop Your Personal Mission Statement
A personal mission statement, also known as a personal vision statement, is a brief description of your values and goals. The statement is designed to give you focus in your life, define where you are and where you want to be, and help you concentrate on the things that are most important to you. As you write a personal mission statement, keep in mind that it can change as you achieve goals and refine the direction of your life. The statement is a snapshot of your life now; as your life changes, so will your personal mission statement.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Decide the format of your personal mission statement. Some are a sentence or two; others a long paragraph or series of paragraphs. The statement can also be written in the form of a bullet list, with each bullet describing a specific value or goal.
-
2
Determine how detailed you want your personal mission statement to be. The statement can describe specific actions that will accomplish your goals or be general and describe outcomes without describing the steps needed to reach them. For example, a specific mission statement might describe the schools to attend, the hospitals to intern in and the location to set up a medical practice if one of the goals is to become a doctor. A general mission statement on the same subject might describe the goal as "Get a medical degree and become a doctor."
-
-
3
Write a list of the facts you want to include in your personal mission statement. These should be facts that are important to you and define you and your goals. They should describe what you believe in and stand for and what you want to accomplish in your life in terms of family, career and personal relationships. These accomplishments can be short-term goals that, when complete, help you achieve the overall goals in your life. You should take your time creating this list; revisit it over a period of time, adding and removing items until you are satisfied that the items on the list describe you and how you want to live your life.
-
4
Write your personal mission statement. The writing should be simple and direct, and should contain the items on your list that are most important. The mission statement should be positive. It should not detail what you don't believe or don't want to do, but should describe the things you believe in and the goals you want to accomplish.
-
1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
